A Broken Promise
by dest-unknown
Summary: "He promised her he would win, and she knew that he always kept his promises." Written for ChoCedric's challenge.


_A/N: Alright, second oneshot ever! Yay! This is a response to __ChoCedric's__ challenge. I hope you and everyone else enjoy it. _

_000ooo000ooo000ooo000_

The crowd was waiting anxiously with baited breath. Two champions ere back-neither of them in good shape- and the other two had disappeared.

Fleur had come out of the maze first, unconscious but breathing. Next came Krum, who was awake, but looked dazed and confused by his surroundings.

This had all been broadcasted on a large shimmering screen, divided into four equal parts and floating high above the heads of those watching.

The first screen showed Cedric, the second Harry, the third Krum, and the fourth Fleur. As the champions fell, the screen divided itself into larger parts, until only Harry's and Cedric's screens were left. Then the duo had grabbed the Cup at the same time, and the whole screen went black.

That was an hour ago. The staff and the Ministry officials overseeing the Tournament were currently rushing around frantically, and trying to reassure the crowd and themselves that both boys were safe.

One girl was sitting silently, feeling anything but reassured. Her hands had been clenched in fists together so long that they were stiff and sore, but she refused to remove from that position. She was hunched over, leaning forward in her chair, her eyes staying glued to the maze for any sign of the Champions.

Specifically, she was looking for Cedric Diggory. He promised her he would win, and she knew that he always kept his promises. That was just the kind of man he was. She knew that she wasn't worthy of him, but he loved her anyway.

He told her, during the nights they shared together in his dorm, that they would get married one day. He painted it out- so colourful, so vivid- that she could clearly picture the two of them, hand in hand, on their wedding day.

Pulling herself out of these thoughts, Cho once again scanned the stadium. Each of the Champions had an area for when they finished the task. Little tents had been set up right next to each other on ground level so the families could await their children's arrival-and, hopefully, victory.

She saw a group of Durmstrangs huddled around Krum, and surrounding them were his groupies. Around Fleur was her sister, of course, and Madame Maxime, and what Cho supposed to be some of the girl's closest friends.

Harry Potter's tent was quite bare, with no one but what Cho supposed were the Weasley's, because of their fire-red hair. Of course, the tent couldn't exactly be called bare because of the number of children in that family, but it seemed lonely.

Cho realized that this was all the family he had. She remembered him trying to ask her to Yule Ball.

_~~Flashback~~_

_She had just walked out of the DADA classroom, laughing with her friends about some joke one of them had made about Moody, when he walked up to her. She recognized the boy immediately, even if he wasn't in her year. It was Harry Potter. _

_He was looking embarrassed and dazed when he stuttered out, "Er—Cho? Could I have a word with you?" Her friends started laughing and she nodded, blushing as well. They shouted out catcalls as they walked away, but she just waved them off and looked at Harry expectantly. _

"_Okay", she replied and he turned to face her head-on. _

"_Er", he began, clearly nervous about something. Cho just had no idea what. "Wangoballwime?", he asked in a rush. _

_She crinkled her eyebrows, confused. "Sorry?" _

"_D'you—d'you want to go to the ball with me?" he repeated the question slowly, and his blush grew to rival that of the infamous Weasleys'. _

_Oh. "Oh." She blushed furiously as well, before adding, "Oh Harry, I'm really sorry. I've already said I'll go with someone else." She contorted her face into a mask of apology. _

"_Oh." He tested the word on his tongue, obviously unsure of what to say now. "Okay. No problem" It was evident that this was a huge problem._

_She desperately tried to think of something to say to this boy. "I'm really sorry" she said again. Cho cursed herself for being such an idiot. _

_They stood together for a few moments and stuttered out very awkward goodbyes to each other before they each walked their own way. _

_Just as she was about to round the corner, he yelled after her. _

"_Who're you going with?" he called. _

"_Oh—" She wasn't sure if she should respond, but Harry was being really sweet about the whole incident, and decided it wouldn't matter. "Cedric. Cedric Diggory." _

_This seemed to make things worse, and Cho immediately regretted saying anything. "Oh. Right." He managed, before walking away with his head hanging down. _

_Cho hurried to the Great Hall, desperate to get the whole situation out of her mind. Of course she was pleased he had asked her; he was the Boy-Who-Lived! But she loved Cedric, and that was that. _

_~~End Flashback~~_

She once again felt a flash of sympathy for the poor boy without a family, but then her gazed slid over to Cedric's tent.

Mr. Diggory was pacing angrily across the opening of the tent, while Mrs. Diggory was sitting farther back on a small bench, wringing her hands nervously. Cho desperately wished she could be there with them; the Diggorys were always kind to her.

Cho turned her attention back to the field before the maze right as it happened. With a bang, Harry and Cedric appeared together, Harry clutching at Cedric, who was lying limply on the ground.

_It's OK, _she told herself, terrified, _Cedric probably is just unconscious. _But she knew she was wrong. There was no "probably" in life or death.

She couldn't help the blood-curling scream that she let out, when Harry moved away from Cedric. It was glaringly apparent to her that he was gone. Sure, his body was lying right on the field, but Cedric- her Cedric- was gone.

Even from the distance she was at, she could see that his eyes were open but unseeing, and he looked deathly pale.

Why could no one else see this? They were just staring in shocked silence at Harry. Why didn't they see that Cedric was gone?

Then, one by one, the rest of the crowd noticed that something was wrong. It started with Cho, but then Mrs. Diggory saw, and then her husband, and soon the whole crowd was just a cacophony of screams and shrieks.

She pushed her way through the hordes of people, trying to make her way to his body. Maybe she could save him. Somehow, there must be a way.

An Auror blocked her way, refusing to let her pass.

"No! Please, you don't understand! No! That's Cedric!" her voice grew louder and louder until it started ringing in her own ears.

Her voice dropped, and betrayed her by cracking. "Please!" She had no idea how many times she whispered that word. Even as the man hauled her away from the field, even as her friends surrounded her and attempted to comfort her, even as Dumbledore stood up in front of the school and announced that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back.

That word became her mantra over the summer, and even throughout the fall of next year.

When term started again, she did her work. Cho hung out with her friends, and even joined the D.A. when she heard about it- even though the group was against school rules.

No matter what Cho seemed like on the outside- grieving, but clearly moving on- she was a mess inside. She knew that her heart would only ever belong to Cedric, and no matter what happened, she wouldn't forget him.

Kissing Harry before the winter break proved to be a good distraction, but as soon as her lips met his, she knew this want right. This was not Cedric, the man she loved. This was Harry, a confused boy who thought he fancied Cho Chang.

She honestly didn't know if she would ever love anyone again. But then she remembered Cedric, who could love anyone, and forgive anyone, and was just so great. And that was when she knew that she _would_ move on.

Of course, Cedric would never be forgotten. He was her first love. But Cho knew that this is what he would have wanted. And somewhere, sometime, Cho also knew that she would be reunited with Cedric once more.

_000ooo000ooo000ooo000_

_A/N: How did everyone like it? This is my first Cho/Cedric oneshot, and usually I don't go for this pair, but it was such a great challenge that I felt compelled to write this. _

_Please review and such, and let me know your thoughts. _

_Gratias, (Latin for "Thanks")_

_~Andiee_


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